The Roaring Twenties (1939) - IMDb IMDb There was an error trying to load your rating for this title. Some parts of this page won't work property. Please reload or try later. X Beta I'm Watching This! Keep track of everything you watch; tell your friends. Error From $2.99 (SD) on Amazon Video ON DISC Three men attempt to make a living in Prohibitionist America after returning home from fighting together in World War I. Director: a list of 31 titles created 26 Aug 2011 a list of 21 titles created 10 Nov 2013 a list of 40 titles created 09 Mar 2014 a list of 31 titles created 03 Jul 2014 a list of 49 titles created 07 Jul 2014 Title: The Roaring Twenties (1939) 7.9/10 Want to share IMDb's rating on your own site? Use the HTML below. You must be a registered user to use the IMDb rating plugin. A priest tries to stop a gangster from corrupting a group of street kids.

Director: Michael Curtiz A psychopathic criminal with a mother complex makes a daring break from prison and leads his old gang in a chemical plant payroll heist. Shortly after the plan takes place, events take a crazy turn Director: Raoul Walsh A young hoodlum rises up through the ranks of the Chicago underworld, even as a gangster's accidental death threatens to spark a bloody mob war. Director: William A. Wellman After being released from prison, notorious thief Roy Earle is hired by his old boss to help a group of inexperienced criminals plan and carry out the robbery of a California resort. Director: Raoul Walsh A small-time criminal moves to a big city to seek bigger fortune. Director: Mervyn LeRoy A waitress, a hobo and a bank robber get mixed up at a lonely diner in the desert. Director: Archie Mayo Two brothers struggle as wildcat truck drivers; one comes to harm, the other is accused of his friend's murder. Director: Raoul Walsh A man convicted of murdering his wife escapes from prison and works with a woman to try and prove his innocence. Director: Delmer Daves It's the early days of the F.B.I. - federal agents working for the Department of Justice.

Though they've got limited powers - they don't carry weapons and have to get local police approval ... See full summary » Director: William Keighley Although loudmouthed braggart Jerry Plunkett alienates his comrades and officers, Father Duffy, the regimental chaplain, has faith that he'll prove himself in the end. Director: William Keighley McCord's gang robs the stage carrying money to pay Indians for their land, and the notorious outlaw "The Oklahoma Kid" Jim Kincaid takes the money from McCord. McCord stakes a "sooner" ... See full summary » Director: Lloyd Bacon A man visits his old friend's hotel and finds a gangster running things. As a hurricane approaches, the two end up confronting each other. Director: John Huston Edit Storyline After the WWI Armistice Lloyd Hart goes back to practice law, former saloon keeper George Hally turns to bootlegging, and out-of-work Eddie Bartlett becomes a cab driver. Eddie builds a fleet of cabs through delivery of bootleg liquor and hires Lloyd as his lawyer. George becomes Eddie's partner and the rackets flourish until love and rivalry interfere.

Written by Ed Stephan <stephan@cc.wwu.edu> See All (151) » Taglines: The land of the free gone wild! The heyday of the hotcha! The shock-crammed days G-men took ten whole years to lick! See more » Genres: 28 October 1939 (USA) See more » Also Known As: The World Moves On See more » Filming Locations: Did You Know? Trivia This film started a nostalgia craze. Disc jockeys began to run Roaring Twenties music. Producer Mark Hellinger was an important guest on singer Bing Crosby 's Kraft Music Hall radio show and singer Kate Smith promoted the film on all of her radio programs. Both Life and Look magazines published "Roaring Twenties" layouts. See more » Goofs On November 11, 1918, while Eddie, George, and Lloyd are shooting at the enemy, George says, "Prohibition law goes in next year." How would anyone know that then? By November 11, 1918, only 14 of the 36 states needed had ratified the 18th amendment.

The 36th state, Nebraska, ratified it on January 16, 1919, giving the US one more year before prohibition went into effect on January 17, 1920. Granted, New York state was partially "dry" by 1918. See more » Quotes Eddie Bartlett : I trust my friends. [Walks off] George Halley : That guys a sucker. I don't trust any of my friends. Panama Smith : The feeling's mutual, George. They don't trust you either. Played during the initial speakeasy montage Also played at the club the night Jean makes her debut He Used To Be A Big Shot 12 October 2005 | by theowinthrop (United States) – See all my reviews It is not as centrally dynamic as THE PUBLIC ENEMY nor as Freudian as WHITE HEAT, but THE ROARING TWENTIES is a leading gangster film for Jimmy Cagney as it details the rise and fall of a gangster Eddie Bartlett.

The product of World War I and Prohibition, Eddie rises to great power as the head of a gang, always trying to return to legitimate society, and then to fall again due to the Wall Street Crash and the machinations of his right-hand man George Hally (Humphrey Bogart). Both men's characters are far more subtle as studies of success in criminal enterprise than the normal crime bosses of the 1930s. Eddie painstakingly builds up a taxicab corporation to gain legitimacy, as well as his stock acquisitions. Bogart, a bit more realistic on what types of businesses he understands, does not get involved in the stock market. But he enjoys the trappings of the upper class. Witness the scene when he is talking with his underling (Abner Biberman) and he is practicing his putting in his office. At the conclusion, Bogart is living in a townhouse (a sign of his financial success). There is a tradition in the films of the depression that some gangsters are not as bad as others.

This is not to be taken seriously in real life, but the idea is that certain people are driven to crime by economic circumstances (Cagney returning to no job at the end of World War I) and some are driven by pure evil (the sadistic side of Bogart's nature). Cagney, on his rise, gains the friendship of people like Gladys George (actually the unrequited love of Ms George) and tries to find room in his organization for people like Frank McHugh, a nice guy who really never fit in properly as a criminal - and dies as a result. Bogart gains the support of like villains (Bibberman, who shares Bogie's fate at the end), and keeps showing a contempt for human life in most of the film (witness how he kills a cop on one of the rum runners he and Cagney are on, because the cop was once his sergeant in the army who punished him for breaking the rules when he did). But Cagney turns out to have more guts in him than Bogie. At the end of the film the latter, facing his own demise, turns into a total coward.

The film has many touches to set the tone of the 21 years it covers (1918 - 1939). At the start newsreel footage takes the audience back to the end of World War I, showing Presidents and events up to Wilson (who, curiously enough, is shown by an actor playing the President, not as part of an old film). It has been noted that Gladys George's Panama is based on Texas Guinan, the speakeasy hostess. The death of Cagney on the steps of a church is based on the death of Hymie Weiss, a Chicago gangster rival of Capone who was killed that way in 1927. It was too good a death to not use in a gangster film, as it seems more symbolic than it was in real life (it does remind us of how Cagney, for all his good intentions, came up short due to his profession in violence). I have not commented on the love triangles involving Cagney, Jeffrey Lynn, and Priscilla Lane (and Cagney, Lane, and Gladys George).

The irony that Cagney never sees that George is more than just a good friend is rather poignant, for both of them. And it is George who cradles his dead body in the end and gives his epitaph. Perhaps today a director would allow Cagney to wise up and get away with George. But that would spoil the full effect of the film's conclusion. 26 of 31 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes Amazon.com: TCM Greatest Classic Film Collection: Gangsters - Prohibition Era (The Public Enemy / The Roaring Twenties / Little Caesar / Smart Money): James Cagney, Humphrey Bogart, Edward G. Robinson: Movies & TV TCM Greatest Classic Film Collection: Gangsters - Prohibition Era (The Public Enemy / The Roaring Twenties / Little Caesar / Smart Money) $10.63 Free Shipping for Prime Members | Fast, FREE Shipping with Amazon Prime Only 3 left in stock. Sold by Outlet Promotions and Fulfilled by Amazon .

Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) is a service we offer sellers that lets them store their products in Amazon's fulfillment centers, and we directly pack, ship, and provide customer service for these products. Something we hope you'll especially enjoy: FBA items qualify for FREE Shipping and . If you're a seller, Fulfillment by Amazon can help you increase your sales. We invite you to learn more about Fulfillment by Amazon . Frequently Bought Together Ad feedback Special Offers and Product Promotions Your cost could be $0.00 instead of $10.63! Get a $50 Amazon.com Gift Card instantly upon approval for the Amazon Rewards Visa Card Apply now Editorial Reviews THE PUBLIC ENEMY (1931) A taut, realistic time capsule of the Prohibition Era, showcasing James Cagney's powerhouse breakthrough as a streetwise tough guy who rises high in the bootleg racket. THE ROARING TWENTIES (1939) Humphrey Bogart and Ida Lupino star in this soulful study of a gangster whose hard-boiled persona finds itself at war with his compassionate side – a side that will ultimately be his downfall.

LITTLE CAESAR (1930) Loosely based on Al Capone! Edward G. Robinson rocketed to stardom as a pugnacious hoodlum who murderously rises to the top ranks of the underworld. SMART MONEY (1931) In their only screen teaming, Little Caesar's Edward G. Robinson leads the way and The Public Enemy's James Cagney rides shotgun in this brisk tale of barbers who go from cutting hair to cutting in on the gambling racket.

Special Features Disc 1, side A: The Public Enemy Leonard Maltin Hosts Warner Night at the Movies 1931 with newsreel, comedy short The Eyes Have It, cartoon Smile Darn Ya Smile and theatrical trailers Featurette Beer and Blood: Enemies of the Public Commentary by historian Robert Sklar 1954 rerelease foreword Disc 1, side B: The Roaring Twenties Leonard Maltin Hosts Warner Night at the Movies 1939 with newsreel, musical short All Girl Revue, comedy short The Great Library Misery, cartoon Thugs with Dirty Mugs and theatrical trailers Featurette The Roaring Twenties: The World Moves On Commentary by historian Lincoln Hurst Disc 2, side A: Little Caesar Leonard Maltin Hosts Warner Night at the Movies 1930 with newsreel, Spencer Tracy drama short The Hard Guy, cartoon Lady Play Your Mandolin! and theatrical trailers Featurette Little Caesar: End of Rico, Beginning of the Antihero Commentary by historian Richard B.

Jewell 1954 re-release foreword Disc 2, side B: Smart Money Warner Night at the Movies 1931 with newsreel, musical shorts, George Jessel and His Russian Art Choir and The Smart Set-Up, cartoon Big Man from the North and theatrical trailers Commentary by historians Alain Silver and James Ursini Movie Review - - THE SCREEN: REVIEWS AND NEWS; The Warners Look Back on 'The Roaring Twenties' at the Strand--'Call a Messenger' at the Rialto--Dita Parlo, Austrian, Listed for 'Heart of Darkness' - NYTimes.com Movie Review November 11, 1939 THE SCREEN: REVIEWS AND NEWS; The Warners Look Back on 'The Roaring Twenties' at the Strand--'Call a Messenger' at the Rialto--Dita Parlo, Austrian, Listed for 'Heart of Darkness' By FRANK S.

NUGENT Published: November 11, 1939 As though it were not already the most thoroughly cinematized decade of our history, the Warners are presenting "The Roaring Twenties" (at the Strand) with the self-conscious air of an antiquarian preparing to translate a cuneiform record of a lost civilization. With a grandiloquent and egregiously sentimental foreword by Mark Hellinger, with employment of newsreel shots to lend documentary flavor, with a commentator's voice interpolating ultra-dramatic commonplaces as the film unreels, their melodrama has taken on an annoying pretentiousness which neither the theme nor its treatment can justify. The dirty decade has served too many quickie quatrains to rate an epic handling now.

Stripped of its false whiskers, including that part of the Hellinger preface which goes: "This film is a memory, and I am grateful for it," the picture merely marks the Warners' return to the profitable and visually exciting field where once sprouted such horrendous nosegays as "Public Enemy" and "Little Caesar." For here again we find the fighters of 1918-19 back from the war, discovering they have lost their glory with the armistice, turning to bootlegging and hijacking and murder during the delirium of the speakeasy era, taking a licking in the stock market crash of '29, penning their farewell letters to the world in blood spilling from bullet wounds. If it sounds familiar, Mr. Hellinger will remind you that it all really happened, as he so gratefully remembers.

If it also seems to be good entertainment of its kind (and it is, barring the false dignity the Warners have attached to it), credit it to James Cagney in another of his assured portrayals of a criminal career man; to Gladys George, who has breathed poignance into the stock role of the night club hostess who calls her customers "chump"; to Raoul Walsh, who has kept his story of the hectic years spinning and has staged a dramatic final scene with a punch-line that is the perfect epitaph for the public hoodlum: "He used to be a big shot!" THE ROARING TWENTIES, adapted by Jerry Wald, Richard Macaulay and Robert Rossen from an original story by Mark Hellinger; directed by Raoul Walsh for Warner Brothers. At the Strand. Eddie Bartlett . . . . . James Cagney Second Detective . . . . . Eddie Chandler Lefty . . . . . Max Wagner The trade conditions being what they are, with fair-practice codes and all that, it was probably a foregone conclusion that the Dead End Kids sooner or later would effect a merger with that apochryphal hoodlum organization known as the Little Tough Guys.

But the merger (although it might more accurately be described as an absorption by the Dead End Trust of a small, independent competitors' group) comes as a felicitous surprise, nevertheless, and this review may one day achieve a measure of immortality simply by announcing that the big combination has finally been completed in "Call a Messenger," at the Rialto. To say that "Call a Messenger" fits in with the policy of the Rialto, which is to improve on any time-tested formula for shock by the simple expedient of doubling the dose, is to say everything. It doubles the dose, and although this method, on a few unfortunate occasions, has been known to prove fatal, it ought rather to be good for a minute portion of amusement in the present case. The spectacle of Billy Halop crusading for respectability in a "Postal Union" messenger's uniform, and converting an entire juvenile-delinquent block to new hire-purchase bikes by means of left hooks and rights to the jaw is too irresistible. We have been worried about Master Halop for some time now, and we will not be surprised if he takes up Latin in the next installment.

At 86th Street Garden Theatre Just for a change the film, folk (in this case the German Bavaria Company) have transferred a famous classic from the stage to the screen in a less fantastic and more credible form than the original. It is true that swashbuckling Hans Albers, in the title role of Ibsen's "Peer Gynt," performs astounding feats as the Norwegian farm lad who, leaving home after the death of his mother (Lucie Hoeflich), wanders over land and sea conquering about everything in sight, including the passing love of the mature and charming Olga Tschechowa. But Director Fritz Wendhausen, by omitting the Troll kingdom and most of the philosophical dialogue and by use of a delightful musical accompaniment from the compositions of Ibsen's compatriot Edvard Grieg, managed to turn out a picture sure to entertain the patrons of the Eighty-sixth Street Garden Theatre. The work of the whole cast is first-rate, although Herr Albers is too old to be convincing in the first reels, where he is supposed to be only 20, and the appealing blonde Marieluise Claudius ages hardly any during her long wait for the disillusioned wanderer's return.

The rough rural scenes are fine, and so is the storm at sea. News of Hollywood HOLLYWOOD, Calif., Nov. 10—Dita Parlo, Austrian actress who starred in the French film, "Grande Illusion," will play the feminine lead opposite Orson Welles in RKO's "Heart of Darkness" if she can obtain a passport to enter the United States, it was disclosed today. Miss Parlo was signed for the Welles film in August, but the casting was not announced by the producer because the war intervened and it appeared impossible that she could leave France on her German passport. New information indicates, however, that she may be released by the French authorities to come to this country. In the mean-time, negotiations by RKO to borrow Ingrid Bergman from Selznick-International for the role are at a standstill. Warner Brothers disclosed that they are negotiating with Metro to borrow Wallace Beery for the male lead in "Tugboat Annie Rides Again" with Louise Fazenda. Beery played the same role in the "Tugboat Annie" made by Metro with Marie Dressier in 1933.

Warners has engaged Anatole Litvak to direct "Villa on the Hill" and has assigned Casey Robinson to prepare the scenario of "The Woman Brown." Paramount has obtained the services of a giant panda to appear with Dorothy Lamour in "Road to Singapore," the studio has announced. The panda will pass through Los Angeles Monday on its way to the Chicago Zoological Gardens from Szechuan Province, China, and will pause long enough to make its screen debut. The studio has re-titled the English film "London After Dark," with Charles Laughton, "Partners of the Night" to avoid the suggestion that it is an air raid picture. Don Wilson and Ward Bond have joined "Buck Benney Rides Again." J. M. Jerrigan has joined Metro's "Young Tom Edison." Lee Garmes is seeking Lucile Ball to replace Binnie Barnes, who is unavailable because of another commitment, in his R.-K.-O. release, "And So Good-Bye." . . . Universal's "Charlie McCarthy, Detective," has acquired Alec Craig. Of Local Origin "Fugitive at Large," starring Jack Holt, is the new picture opening today at the Globe.

Patricia Ellis and Quinn Williams appear in supporting roles. Reversing the usual procedure, Paramount has sold an original story written specifically for the screen to publishers here for adaptation as a novel. Ketti Frings is the author of the story, "Memo to a Movie Producer," which the firm of Duell, Sloan and Pearce, Inc., have bought for publication. Alexander Korda, who arrived Thursday from London, left for the Coast by plane yesterday. Mr. Korda said he had no plans for American film production and expected to continue making his pictures in England. He intends to return from Hollywood in three weeks. . . . Irene Lee, story editor at the Warner Brothers studio on the West Coast, is expected to arrive over the week-end to inspect the current Broadway plays. She is expected to remain in the East for about two weeks. "Harvest" Score for Concert The original score for the French film, "Harvest," has been adapted for concert performance by its composer, Arthur Honegger. It will be known as "Symphonic Suite From the Film, 'Harvest,'" and will have its première this Winter.

"The Wind." Films being shown in the historical series presented by the Museum of Modern Art Film Library have only one showing daily at 4 P. M. This coming week's films are: Today—"Robin Hood." Tomorrow—-"The Outlaw and His Wife" and "The Story of Gösta Berling." Monday—"Greed." Tuesday—"Hamlet" and "The Last Laugh." Wednesday—"Dream of a Rarebit Fiend," "High and Dizzy" and "The Navigator." Thursday—"The Love of Jeanne Ney." Friday—"Hotel Imperial" and "The Wind." Saturday—"Hands" and "Sunrise." Sunday—"Anna Christie." At the Rialto CALL A MESSENGER, screen play by Arthur T. Horman from a story by Sally Sandlin and Michael Kraike; directed by Arthur Lubin for Universal Pictures. Jimmy Hogan . . . . . Billy Halop The Roaring Twenties (1939) on iTunes Highly recommend, I couldn't stop watching it One of a SUPERB kind by GoodOldMonkey A gripping plot, characters you can believe in — brilliant direction, cinematography and editing — plus time travel back to when Grandma was a kid. What more could you ask?

Well, how about a girl-next-door star so wholesome and pretty you want to jump right into the screen, superb performances from the whole cast, outstanding music, and wisecracking fireworks between Jimmy Cagney and Bogey? Let me put it another way: I'm a Bogart fan, and in this film his fine performance should've won him fourth billing, not third. Cagney probably edges Priscilla Lane out for the first slot, but not by much. As a mechanic-turned-gangster who cherishes one or two tattered illusions, Cagney is so convincing you can't help finding yourself on his side. His performance is right up there with Marlon Brando in A Streetcar Named Desire or Orson Welles in A Touch of Evil. Lane does the seemingly impossible: takes the role of a nice, happy, intelligent young woman to whom nothing tragic happens, who never gets sultry and in fact seems to have no interest in sex, never wears anything revealing, and doesn't even get into any serious scrapes – and makes it absolutely absorbing. Until I saw this I would've sworn there was no way you could make decency and good will great cinema watching.

Now I am on the lookout for every Priscilla Lane film I can track down. Also perfect in a less important role is Gladys George as over-the-hill torch singer Panama Smith. And there is still Bogey, pretty much as good as usual. If one of the all-time great films isn't enough for your money, you also get a combination of a good look at the 20s and an unwittingly vivid self-portrait of frantically optimistic America at the beginning of World War II. But beware: if you take the thriller tag here seriously, you may be disappointed. Cagney and Bogart are gangsters, but the movie’s as much a musical as it is a gangster film. Which is to say not at all. It's bigger than either of those labels, and doesn't fit any category except Great Film You Must Not Miss. Viewers Also Bought The Roaring Twenties (1939) Pages: ( 1 ) ( 2 ) ( 3 ) Background The Roaring Twenties (1939) is action director Raoul Walsh's first gangster film (and first film for Warner Bros.).

[Walsh replaced director Anatole Litvak at the last minute.] This newsreel-like, semi-documentary, authentic-looking film, with both hard-hitting gangster genre action and romantic sentiment, shares a lot of similarities and is reminiscent of the greatest gangster films of the 30s, including Little Caesar (1930) , Scarface: The Shame of the Nation (1932) , and Public Enemy (1931) . All of these films portray bootlegging, numerous murders, gangster life, and the death of the hero at the conclusion. At the end of the thirties, Walsh's 'social history' film eulogizes and recreates the entire Jazz Age decade, Prohibition and its repeal (including the process of manufacturing bathtub gin), and the Depression era (through the mid 1930s) with an expansive, eulogistic perspective within an historical framework.

However, the protagonist is portrayed as a reluctant victim of social and environmental conditions during the time period - as a returning WWI doughboy to a 1918 America of unemployment, he is lured to a corruptible life as a small-time hood after being denied his old job and after taking advantage of poorly-conceived government laws. Then, as a struggling taxi-cab driver after a change of fortune during the Depression, he becomes a poverty-stricken, alcoholic "forgotten man" in the 30s. It is a classic, realistic, crisp Warner Brothers melodrama with stars James Cagney and Humphrey Bogart - quintessential gangland characters, electrifying actor Cagney as the reckless leader of the gangland and Bogart as his ruthless second-fiddle lieutenant and then as his rival. This old-style film was the third and last time that the two were brought together. [They had earlier appeared in Michael Curtiz' Angels With Dirty Faces (1938) and Oklahoma Kid (1939).] This was Cagney's last gangster film until he returned to the genre ten years later in Walsh's excellent White Heat (1949) .

The film also features many popular songs of the era it portrays, including Melancholy Baby, I'm Wild About Harry, It Had to Be You, and In a Shanty in Old Shanty Town. The screenplay for the film, written by Jerry Wald, Richard Macaulay, and Robert Rossen, was based on an original screen story by Mark Hellinger. Hellinger's prohibition saga, originally entitled The World Moves On, was based on his experiences as a New York news-reporter during the Roaring 20s, and his familiarity with the illegal clubs of the day (i.e., the Hotsy-Totsy, Dizzy, and Blackbottom). This last of the gangster films in the 30s, with James Cagney in the thinly-disguised (and humanized) lead role, was based upon the real-life rise and fall of New York mobster/racketeer Larry Fay who had a business relationship with his brassy, frowsy saloon singer-promoter and hostess Texas Guinan (Gladys George's role as Panama Smith).

[Guinan was known for her famed greeting to patrons - "Hello, suckers" - that was changed to the likable "Hello, chumps" in the film)]. This superb film was not nominated for a single Academy Award. The Story During the opening scrolling prologue after the credits, Hellinger (in voice-over) apologetically informs the audience that the film ("a memory") is based upon facts, real people and events that he covered as a newsman during the 1920s - when Prohibition, speakeasies and gangster life pervaded the land: FOREWORD It may come to pass that, at some distant date, we will be confronted with another period similar to the one depicted in this photoplay. If that happens, I pray that the events, as dramatized here, will be remembered. In this film, the characters are composites of people I knew, and the situations are those that actually occurred. Bitter or sweet, most memories become precious as the years move on. This film is a memory - and I am grateful for it.

Mark Hellinger Documentary-style montages of historical events of past years (Hitler's takeover of Eastern Europe, Mussolini's rise to power, President Hoover and the Depression, President Calvin Coolidge's reign, and President Wilson's entrance into the Great War) - surveyed backwards from WWII to WWI - are accompanied by newsreel clips and by the authoritative, news-commentator voice of John Deering: [1940] Today, while the earth shakes beneath the heels of marching troops, [1938] while a great portion of the world trembles before the threats of the acquisitive, power-mad men [1935], we of America have little time to remember [1929] an astounding era in our own recent history. An era [1924] which will grow more and more incredible with each passing generation until someday, people will say [1918] it never could have happened at all. April, 1918, almost a million American young men are engaged in a struggle which they have been told will make the world safe for democracy.

The film opens in the no-man's land war trenches on the Western Front in France, where three rookie American soldiers meet inauspiciously as they are trapped in a bombed-out foxhole ("rathole"). This economical opening scene characterizes the personalities of the film's major protagonists: admirable Eddie Bartlett (James Cagney), a hardened George Hally (Humphrey Bogart), and a scared Lloyd Hart (Jeffrey Lynn): George: Hey, do ya always come into a rathole like that? Eddie: Whaddya want me to do, knock? George: (later) There's ten thousand shellholes around here and everybody's got to come divin' into this one. Hart, a law school graduate, admits that he is the least-suited for soldiering: "...I haven't any heart for this. I thought this business would be over with before I got here." Bartlett speaks up for his honest buddy: "I don't like heroes or big-mouths. We're all scared and why shouldn't we be?...You're all right, kid. I like guys who are honest with themselves.

Stay that way." [Throughout the film, Eddie is caught between the good and evil 'pull' of his co-stars (Lloyd and George).] During mail call, the men receive letters from back home - they have been written as part of a campaign to bolster warfront spirit: "Thousands of dames writin' us thousands of letters that are supposed to pep us up." Bartlett's letter contains a stunning photograph from his female letter-writer back in Mineola. As they are summoned back to war, Hally exchanges bitter words with their brutal Sergeant Pete Jones (Joseph Sawyer) and vows: "Someday, I'm gonna catch that ape without those stripes on and I'm gonna kick his teeth out." Back on the front on the eve of the Armistice, Hart describes his post-war law aspirations: "If I ever get back, I'm gonna have a swell law office in the Woolworth Building. I have it all picked out on the 28th floor." Upon his return, Hally will "still be in the saloon business" even though Prohibition may soon become law. He also expects to put his Army gun training to good use.

And Eddie wishes to return to his pre-war job as an auto-mechanic in a garage, save his money, and one day have a shop of his own: "That's my idea of heaven, boys. A grease bucket, a wrench, and a cracked cylinder." George coldly squeezes his trigger on an advancing German enemy who "looks like a kid about 15 years old" and then casually quips: "He won't be 16." (in voice-over) 1919. The war is over and the people of New York are tiring of the constant triumphal procession of returning troops. And still, not all of them are back. There is alarming news that women's skirts are going to become shorter. Already, they are six inches above the ankle. Bobbed hair is introduced but very timidly. A young upstart named Jack Dempsey is scheduled to meet Jess Willard for the heavyweight championship of the world. People are talking about the high cost of living. Everything is going up - food, rent, clothing, taxes. The Prohibition amendment is ratified by the necessary thirty-six states and becomes the law of the land. People are dancing to the strains of Dardanella.

Finally, late in the year, the last detachments of the American Expeditionary Forces come back from policing the Rhine, almost forgotten by all but their relatives and friends. Upon Bartlett's return home to New York as a veteran, he sees his old hometown buddy cab driver Danny Green (Frank McHugh) in a furnished apartment ("the same cheesy old joint") where the rent has been increased. According to Danny, the hacking business has declined: "Everybody's walkin' where they want to go." Jobs are scarce, and bitter prejudice surly workers confront returning, decorated war veterans: "Those monkeys are gonna find out what a picnic they had on Uncle Sam's dough while we stayed home and worked...If you'd brought along a band and a gun, you mighta got the job." Eddie is denied his pre-war garage mechanic's job repairing cabs by his ex-foreman Fletcher (Joseph Crehan): "Sorry Eddie, I haven't anything for you...Times have changed, Eddie. That boy over there has been working almost two years.

What do you want me to do, can him just because you came back?" With the passage of Prohibition, breweries and other nightclubs close: (in voice-over) Back in this country, the boys who had returned from overseas begin to find out that the world has moved on during the time they spent in France...Everywhere, things have changed but particularly in New York. The old Broadway is only a memory. Gone are many of the famous landmarks, for already, America is feeling the effects of Prohibition. There is a concentrated effort at readjustment to normal peacetime activities, but unemployment coming in the wake of the wartime boom is beginning to grip the country and the soldiers find their return to face - on a different front - the same old struggle, the struggle to survive. After pounding the pavement and discouraged by his ill fortune, Eddie is desperate, grim-faced and "tired of being pushed around. Tired of having doors slammed in my face, tired of being just another guy back from France." Danny offers Eddie the use of his cab for taxi-hacking during off-hours: "Why don't you hustle it the other twelve?

We'll split the gas and the oil and you got yourself a job." After receiving a postage-due, forwarded letter from France from his "American gal" from Mineola, Long Island, they drive out to her house to meet the woman he has never met. Eddie ("her dream soldier") discovers that Jean Sherman (Priscilla Lane) lives with her mother (Elisabeth Risdon) and "goes to school, sings, and dances." The uniformed doughboy is expectant ("that means she's no mug") until Jean skips in - she is just a young, pretty, sweet, and naive high-school girl who glowingly admires him: Oh, Mr. Bartlett, you look just like I pictured you. Brave, strong, romantic, and handsome. Eddie politely excuses himself, and promises to be in touch with her when she grows up in a few years: "Oh, in about two or three years when you get to be a great big girl." (in voice-over) 1920. For the first two weeks of the year, men can still get a drink more or less publically, because although the 18th Amendment is in effect, the law has no teeth.

But on the 16th of January, the Volstead Act takes effect and traffic in liquor goes completely undercover to stay there for many long years. The word 'speakeasy' begins to appear in our language, and the forces of the underworld who best know how to operate outside the law are moving in on a new source of revenue the magnitude of which no man dare guess. One night during his cab driving rounds, Eddie is asked to run an errand for a mobster. He is to deliver a brown-paper package to the Henderson Club and ask for speakeasy hostess Panama Smith (Gladys George). Not knowing the suspicious package's contents (a bottle of gin), Eddie loudly announces the delivery and is arrested, with Panama, by two undercover agents for violating the Volstead Act. He vouches for Panama's innocence in the transaction: Eddie: I drive this guy up in my cab and he asked me to deliver this package to a customer in here. I forget his name and I ask her if she knows who he is...I tell ya, I was deliverin' for a guy who is waitin' outside. Panama: This guy's on the up and up. He's no bootlegger.

I've never seen him before. After the trial, where they are defended by Eddie's wartime buddy/attorney Lloyd, Panama is found not guilty (and set free) because the arresting officers failed to detect her actually selling intoxicating liquors. But Eddie is found guilty and sentenced to sixty days in jail and fined $100. She thanks him for helping her beat the rap: "Thanks a lot. I'll do the same for you someday." In jail, Eddie shares a cell with a suicidally-minded ex-soldier whose crime was a "stickup with a gun. Things got too tough. If they'd just give me back that gun, I'd use it - on myself." After three nights in jail, Eddie is released when Panama pays the fine and bail for him: Eddie: What's your angle, sister? What bank do you want me to stick-up? Who do you want killed and what do you want done first? Panama: Well, first, let's have a drink. Through a hidden door in a paint and varnish store, Eddie and Panama enter into a smoky, back-room speakeasy. Now and throughout most of the film, Eddie orders a glass of milk to drink.

Taking a liking to him, she recognizes that he's a 'decent guy' and sticks by him: Panama: I think you're a pretty decent guy. I like to talk to decent guys. They're hard to find. Eddie: All right, let's talk. Panama: Things have been pretty tough, haven't they? Eddie: They could be tougher. A guy in the cell with me was talkin' about bumpin' himself off. Until I get around to that, I'm doin' all right. Through payoffs ("sucker money") during Prohibition, she explains how "a bright guy" like him may become successful in the bootlegging/racketeering business: Panama: You've been nice to me. You took a rap that I couldn't afford to take. It would have put me out of business. And I'd hate to see someone like you banging his head against a stone wall. Now the liquor business is gonna grow big and it's gonna grow fast. So get in line, buster. Hack drivers are a dime a dozen. Eddie: But you gotta know people. Panama: I know people.

Question: Which US actor starred in the film 'The Public Enemy' and 'The Roaring Twenties'?
Answer: JAMES CAGNEY